The frustrations of the first half gave way to smooth sailing for the Barbe Bucs in the second half of their 67-40 District 3-5A win over New Iberia Thursday afternoon at McNeese State.

While the Bucs never trailed, their lead fluctuated greatly in the half as they committed 10 turnovers and got into foul trouble (11), sending the Yellow Jackets to the line eight times.

Barbe led 37-29 at halftime but turned up the intensity with defense in the third quarter, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 19-6. NISH’s Zoriahn Davis scored all 14 of her points in the first half, but the Bucs held her scoreless in the second.

“It took us a little bit to get going,” Barbe head coach Trey Digiglia said. “It is the same interview: everything starts with our defense. In the third quarter, we got our defense revved up, and that is when we started spreading the lead out.”

Seniors Areil Williams and Mikaylah Manley came up big for the Bucs again. Williams scored 13 of her game-high 26 points in the first quarter, and Manley finished with 22 points. The duo combined for 14 of the Bucs’ 19 third-quarter points.

NISH cut the Bucs’ lead to 7-5 with 4:34 left in the first quarter on a pair of free throws by Jasmine Picard, but Barbe went on an 11-2 run to take its first double-digit lead. The lead grew to 14 before the Yellow Jackets went on a 10-2 run to pull within 29-23 with 3 minutes left in the second quarter.

Guard Maleigha James made six steals in the first half for the Bucs.

“Her confidence is growing,” Digiglia said. “When she is playing well, we are tough to beat.”

Barbe (22-4, 3-1) entered the game rated third in Division I non-select and won for the sixth time in seven games. The Bucs moved within a game of district-leading Acadiana (21-7, 4-0) and a half-game ahead of Carencro (9-8, 2-1) and Sulphur (16-7, 2-1). The regular season ends on Feb. 11. Playoff pairings will be released on Feb. 13.

“When we are sharing the ball, playing fast and playing pressure defense,” Digiglia said. “It is fun to coach and watch. That is what we want to do. Everybody gets their shots and everybody gets opportunities. That is the type of basketball we want to play.

“It is one game at a time. When those brackets come out, we will see how it shakes out and see if we can make a little run. We still have some good opponents on the schedule.”